Former Apple Retail Chief Ron Johnson Fired by J.C. Penney After 17 Months

The creator of the Apple’s famous retail stores, Ron Johnson, quit the company back in November of 2011 to take up a position as CEO at J.C. Penney. At the time, Johnson was quoted as saying he had always dreamed of the CEO position at a major retail outlet. He also said he was excited to help “re-imagine what I believe to be the single greatest opportunity in American retailing today, the Department Store.”

Well, as of today those dreams have turned into a nightmare for Johnson, as J.C. Penney announced they have let him go, only to be replaced by his predecessor, Myron E. Ullman III. How well did Johnson perform at J.C. Penney? Horribly, according to the New York Times:

For the 2012 fiscal year, Penney lost more than $4 billion in sales as traffic declined. Its stock closed Monday at $15.87, less than half of its price after Mr. Johnson’s appointment was announced in June 2011. It had $13 billion in sales for the 2012 fiscal year, well below its competitors Macy’s and Kohl’s.

Recently the company continued to bleed as it reported a $552 million loss and almost 30% decline in sales for the most recent quarter. As for Johnson, the company cut his salary by 97% in 2012 to $1.9 million. Some things just aren’t meant to be, eh?

Apple fired Johnson’s retail replacement John Browett last fall. Does Johnson have a chance at coming back to Apple and running the retail ship again?

[via NYT]